Industrial Wisdom specializes in User Experience Design (UXD) for complex software implementations. We’re deeply familiar with the intricacies, challenges and opportunities of UXD from having worked with it for so long in various settings.
But UXD is only part of what we do at Industrial Wisdom. We also have an intimate understanding of business strategy, conceptual and functional requirements, usability testing, and user acceptance testing. By knowing your particular business objectives and by fine-tuning UXD to those objectives, IW can offer you solutions that will translate to increased sales, customer satisfaction and profitability.
Solution Architecture
Orchestrating a complex web of relationships means coordinating the core information that keeps everything running smoothly. Solution Architecture bridges the gap between your customers’ needs and the actual capabilities of your technology. Early discussions are often characterized by different approaches to a common problem, but IW’s Solution Architects specialize in anticipating differences and ultimately uniting them for smooth implementation. We can clearly see potential problem areas and provide a blueprint for how people, processes, technology and data will work together – at the enterprise, business-unit, or department levels. IW services include:
- Defining a business and technology strategy
- Defining business and functional requirements
- Selecting the proper technology
- Identifying, defining and designing Master Data
- Designing workflow and process
- Analyzing integration
- Data governance and data stewardship
User Experience Design
It’s an often-overlooked fact that an intuitive and effective experience is what keeps your users satisfied, whether they’re staff or customers. When executed well, UXD leads to significantly reduced costs, more revenue, and improved customer loyalty. IW’s User Experience Designers take a unique and effective approach to bridging gaps between the day-to-day lives of users, the needs of your business, and the capabilities of the technology. Our services include:
- Researching and analyzing your users
- Information architecture
- Interaction design
- Usability testing and strategy
Information Architecture
Information Architecture (IA) bridges the gap between the information that really matters and how you take care of it, so that the right information is available when and how you need it. IW’s Information Architects will translate UXD into an information management strategy that determines your technology requirements and shapes your data management processes.
Our IA expertise spans complex multilingual environments to prevent the costs and complexities of translation and localization from quickly running out of control. Our services include:
- Global information architecture
- Managing terminology
- Modeling content reuse
- Defining editorial standards and multilingual style guidelines
- Defining workflow and planning content lifecycle
Development
Development translates the User Experience Design and Information Architecture into front-end screens — on your computer, mobile device, cell phone, or in a kiosk, for example. Complex software often needs to be seen before important stakeholders buy into the effort. Creating an interactive demo or pilot can be an important part of the internal selling process. In some cases, demos can be used for early usability testing. This interactive process provides further validation of the system’s requirements. Services include:
- Scenario-based prototype development
- Interactive demos
- Conference room pilots
- Front-end development
Testing
You’ve defined a solid business strategy, analyzed your customers’ needs for a satisfying user experience, and implemented new page designs—but are you ready to launch? User acceptance testing (UAT) is an often overlooked but critical step in complex software solutions. IW knows how to develop scripted test scenarios that simulate the end-user experience and identify gaps between requirements and final designs. Using these scripted scenarios, we conduct thorough testing for accurate pricing and content, imagery, layout, site performance, and functionality to ensure that your site is ready for prime-time.
IW Services Include:
- Analyzing targeted requirements, wireframes, content documents, and HTML design
- Developing high-level flow summaries and step-by-step scenarios
- Defining global test criteria
- Identifying test data requirements
- Developing comprehensive test plans and communication plans
- Developing workflow and testing processes
- Conducting user acceptance testing
- Entering and tracking defects
- Helping clients define go/no-go and exit strategies
Industrial Wisdom is, above all else, a team of people. People who have an innate curiosity and openness to listen, learn, evolve and improve. Today’s companies play out their dramas on a seemingly virtual and often faceless stage. But the fact is, the defining element in any company’s success is its ability to remain human and to connect with other humans, both internally (staff) and externally (customers). That goes for your company — and ours.
Listening is the cornerstone of any successful relationship. At Industrial Wisdom, we pride ourselves on thoroughly comprehending your needs and concerns before offering inventive solutions that will help you get where you want to go.
We have more than 100 years of collective experience in User Experience Design and complex software implementation. Perhaps more importantly, we have an intrinsic desire to listen, learn and grow through collaboration with our clients.
Ann McCabe
Ann McCabe is a founding partner and Chief Executive Officer of Industrial Wisdom. Ann leads Sales and Executive Account Management efforts.
Ann’s specialty is successfully implementing complex software. In her 17 years of multi-million-dollar project experience, she has pioneered the integration of user experience design and software implementation methodologies. Ann’s extensive client roster includes companies from the healthcare, telecommunications, direct satellite programming, manufacturing, nonprofit and hospitality industries. She’s orchestrated numerous multimillion dollar projects to increase customer satisfaction, revenue and profit.
Ann's go-getter roots run deep, though her spotless high-school honor society record was tarnished forever when she only managed a C in typing.
Contact Ann at amccabe@industrialwisdom.com.
Greg Laugero
Greg Laugero is a founding partner and President of Industrial Wisdom. He leads the User Experience Design practice.
Greg is an expert at fusing user-experience design and business objectives. He recently led a crucial initiative to turn a major telecommunication provider’s massive static web site into a core business channel. The project focus was to completely redesign the user experience. The result? A dramatic increase in online orders and customer satisfaction scores. Greg also recently led a Fortune 100 software company to successfully envision and design the user experience and information architecture for an electronic performance support system for its 26,000 engineers.
Greg has co-authored two widely referenced books: Enterprise Content Services: Connecting Information and Profitability (Addison Wesley, 2002) and Managing Knowledge: A Practical Web-Based Approach (Addison Wesley, 1999), which was named one of the most influential technical communications works of the last decade.
Greg's formidable post-SNL movie trivia knowledge, on the other hand, is less widely referenced and influential only with a few friends.
Contact Greg at glaugero@industrialwisdom.com.
Greg Laugero
Carolyn French
Carolyn French, V.P. of Marketing and Organizational Development, leads Industrial Wisdom’s Information Architecture practice.
Throughout her 12-year career, Carolyn has been responsible for designing and implementing complex online communication initiatives, including content development methodology, content creation, content management, vendor and team management, and project oversight. Carolyn is an accomplished marketing and communications professional with extensive agency and corporate experience. She is adept at translating creative, technological, and organizational demands into effective enterprise-wide and customer-centric communications.
Carolyn fled the classical music scene in L.A. for the wilds of Colorado. After failing miserably at the fiddle (the laid-back cousin to her classical violin) she called it quits and now runs trails with her pup instead.
Contact Carolyn at cfrench@industrialwisdom.com.
Lawrence Medina
Lawrence Medina leads Industrial Wisdom’s Solution Architecture practice and is the company’s Chief Operations Officer.
Lawrence has extensive experience in using technology- and operational-process definition for large-scale implementations of MDM, CRM, and e-Commerce systems. Throughout his career, he has led initiatives in business analysis, functional design, solution definition, and methodology development for customers in various high-profile market areas. An experienced strategist, solution architect, project manager, and lead developer, Lawrence is a veteran of complex software implementations. His 14 years of experience include staffing, designing, and coordinating multimillion-dollar projects.
A man of many talents and interests, Lawrence finally chose a career in technology over a life as a professional pool player.
Contact Lawrence at lmedina@industrialwisdom.com.
Cathy Barnes
Cathy Barnes, Senior Solution Architect
As a seven-year veteran in user experience design, Cathy has designed user interfaces for web-based Enterprise Resource Planning software applications, e-commerce sites, and interactive television applications. Prior to joining IW, Cathy was a senior usability engineer with a major enterprise software company where she conducted heuristic evaluations, usability tests, and contextual inquiries. She also helped create the user interface for the company’s CRM, sales order entry, and purchase order entry software.
Cathy also has eight years of technical communication experience and has written user guides and online help systems for a variety of software applications.
When she's not working, Cathy designs her own user experience in the mountains where she hikes, cross-country skis, and snowshoes.
Eric Sjue
Eric Sjue, Senior User Experience Designer
Eric specializes in interaction design and user experience for high-end web applications. He began his career designing an online marketing presence for the Eddie Bauer web site and helped create one of the most successful e-commerce sites on the web.
Eric’s post-graduate focus was e-commerce buying habits. He has also done extensive work in user interface design, information architecture, instructional design, and usability testing for academic institutions and companies in the telecommunications, cable, finance, and ski industries.
Eric is a stealthy wild king salmon hunter and comes from a family of Olympic Curling champions.
Laurie Lamar
Laurie Lamar, Senior User Experience Designer
Laurie joined Industrial Wisdom after 13 years as an independent consultant in information architecture, interaction design, and usability. Laurie has designed the user experience for large B2C and B2B web sites and web architecture in several industries, including hospitality, finance, biotech, pharmaceuticals, telecom, software, hardware, and government. She's worked on projects as diverse as sales wizards, shopping carts, account management, search engines, intranets, and metadata strategy.
Laurie's academic background includes cognitive psychology, computer science, biology and writing. Her professional interests include Search interfaces, online communities/social user interfaces, and information visualization. She volunteers as the co-chair of the Interaction Designers' Association Colorado chapter, and as the co-Local Ambassador for the User Experience Network. Laurie has given several professional talks on subjects such as advanced search UIs, ticket sale usability, and UX methodology.
Laurie enjoys studying languages (6 so far) and writing loud music (CD in progress).
Megan Falzarano
Megan Falzarano, Senior Solution Architect
Megan brings a versatile set of skills and broad range of experience in user experience, interface design, information architecture, and usability testing to the IW team. She’s skilled at working closely with businesses to understand market needs and provide leadership and education to clients, designers, and developers on user-centered design objectives, activities, and methods.
Megan has 10 years of experience helping her clients develop product requirements and design goals by applying user-centered design methodologies for commercial products in the automotive, financial, software development and medical industries.
Always well-balanced, Megan played rugby during the same period she was a Lindy Hop instructor.
Katy Campion
Katy Campion, Senior Information Architect
Katy brings over 25 years of knowledge and experience from her work in the finance, software, telecommunications, education, and publishing industries. Her expertise is focused in information architecture, content management, instructional design, technical writing and editing, and usability and user acceptance testing for e-business websites.
Katy is passionate about quality and has led several initiatives to help companies develop effective guidelines, standards, specifications, and processes that support an excellent user experience. She has also served as project lead for user acceptance testing during a major redesign initiative for a large telecommunications e-commerce website.
Although relatively new to the game, Katy is an avid golfer and enjoys visiting courses throughout Colorado. She also loves college football and her University of Colorado Buffaloes.
Lori Eronimous
Lori Eronimous, Senior Information Architect
Lori has extensive experience with information design solutions. She’s an expert at improving process efficiency and accuracy of web-based information.
Lori’s 16 years of experience includes roles in technical writing, editing, content management, content globalization, and user acceptance testing for websites. She is well-versed in many industries, including enterprise software, manufacturing, telecommunications, energy, and e-Commerce.
Lori is very active as a volunteer with the Denver Public School system and directs elementary school students in the DPS Shakespeare festival. She also plays alto sax.
Jay Mead
Jay Mead, Senior Information Architect
Jay has 20 years of experience as a technical writer and editor. Jay has consulted on technical documentation for a variety of software firms, recently serving as Director of Communications for a healthcare software solution provider, and also has experience in usability testing and interface design for corporations including J.D. Edwards/Oracle and Galileo International.
Jay specializes in user documentation for computer software and user and task analysis for complex systems. In addition, he teaches graduate-level technical editing and software documentation as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado (Denver), and has a master’s degree in Technical Communication.
Jay's command of the English language is impressive and agile. He regularly raises the bar by stumping co-workers with new usages from urbandictionary.com.
Jill Thompson
Jill Thompson, Senior Solution Architect
Jill is an experienced team leader in staffing, coordinating and managing complex client/server and web software implementation projects, including project management, account management, solution analysis and design, and documentation with an emphasis on customer satisfaction. During her 12-year career, Jill has acquired extensive knowledge of telecommunications service offerings, including Call Center, Sales, Network Operations Center (NOC), and Provisioning workflows and lifecycles.
A seasoned veteran of Content Management System (CMS), Jill has extensive experience in overall Solutions Management for CMS and Information Architecture implementations utilizing structured methodology and best practices. Her expertise also extends to CRM Solutions Management, vendor selection and CRM software implementations, as well as Knowledge Management.
Jill is always looking for ways to challenge herself. Most recently she swam with giant whalesharks in Mexico (no small feat for someone of Jill's small stature).
June Nery
June Neary, Executive Assistant
June brings extensive account executive experience to Industrial Wisdom's table. She’s served in numerous marketing and public relations positions working on local Denver as well as national accounts such as REI, The Cherry Creek Sneak and The Northwest Passage.
June is passionate about travel, organizing the unorganized, yoga, cohesive, well thought out plans, positive attitudes, challenging and exciting projects, and smooth execution of programs.
Chris Comfort
Chris Comfort, Accountant
Chris is an accountant and a business accounting trainer. She received her accounting degree from the University of Colorado and holds CPP and CPA ceritifications. Chris has spent 20 years in the accounting industry.
To date, Chris has traveled to 4 countries (Spain, Germany, Libya and Mexico) and 20 states. Her goal is to visit all 50 states and several more countries.
